In the vast sector of suitcases, trunks, and transportable containers in general, a particular type of suitcase is known which is usually referred to as a “flight case”.
This term in fact is identified with a suitcase that is predominantly designed to transport utensils, instruments and items of equipment that are heavy and/or cumbersome, but which at the same time are delicate, such as for example musical instruments, loudspeakers and amplifiers, or equipment for photography or lighting, etc.
In order to thus ensure safe transport, without subjecting the contents to impacts, various stresses, and/or infiltrations of humidity, water, dust, etc., such suitcases usually have a structure that is capable of conferring a high level of strength and rigidity, as well as specific contrivances in order to ensure the seal at all points of discontinuity defined in areas where two or more components are joined.
In more detail, in order to ensure the capacity to resist impacts and the other stresses that containers of this type need to be capable of resisting, flight cases are substantially constituted by two box-like half-shells which are mutually articulated, and are constituted by walls of plywood (optionally lined internally with a fabric lining), which are mutually coupled by way of profiled elements in aluminum (arranged along the edges) and corner elements in steel (arranged at the corners).
Furthermore, as has been seen, adapted contrivances are adopted in order to ensure the necessary seal and prevent, as said, leaks of water, dust, etc., which are potentially capable of damaging the instruments and tools accommodated inside.
Such implementation solutions are not devoid of drawbacks, however.
The necessity of assembling suitcases with components made of different materials requires substantially artisan and/or manual procedures, which require the intervention of an operator, who takes care of associating the various components with each other.
Such activity is greatly slowed and complicated by the plurality of screws, rivets, and other, similar fixing elements, which the operator must progressively make use of, in order to obtain the desired final assembly.
In addition to lengthening the overall time necessary for assembly, the insertion of screws and rivets imposes continual interruptions of the steps of mutual assembly of the main components (walls, profiled elements and corner elements), since only by quickly fixing together (with screws and rivets, and occasionally also with adhesive bonding) the components that are progressively being assembled, will the structure of the suitcase being formed be stable, without the risk of its deforming or collapsing during the assembly.
In addition it should be noted that during assembly, and often before obtaining the finished suitcase, the operator is called on to arrange, along the walls, various inserts, blocks, locators etc., which are necessary in order to equip the suitcase with inner panels, pockets or other accessories.
It seems evident that such requirements result in a further increase of the overall time required for assembly, with an unwanted increase of the manufacturing costs.